Truth in User Comments? In Bamboozles' Case, Yes.

You  have to take message board user comments with a grain of salt - who knows what motivates people to say the things they do on the Internet. Often, absurd comments are a result of a mixture of anonymity and audience, a variation on the time-tested Greater Internet Dickwad Theory. Other times, comments are born of fact.

If only there was a way to actively separate the two, maybe there would be a couple fewer people with bullet holes in them this morning. Around 2 a.m. this morning, an argument erupted outside of Bamboozles Bar and Grill in Coral Springs resulting in two people being shot. The cause of the argument is unknown, but both people are reportedly in stable condition.

But that's only the half of it. Bamboozles is a fairly new establishment that occupies the same space that previously housed family bar J.J. Muggs. The user board attached to its website sports a number of anonymous comments decrying the restaurant's food, service, and cleanliness. But one comment posted on July 25, 2009 complained of frequent gunshots outside the bar. Says user Anonymous:

The palce (sic) is a complete JOKE!!! Check out the Bathrooms !!! PUBLIC

RESTROOMS ARE CLEANER!!! VERY DARK GLOOMY,FILTHY DIRTY, AND GANGSTER

LOUD!!! REPORTS CLAIM GUNSHOTS HAVE BEEN FIRED SEVERAL TIMES OUTSIDE

THE PLACE!! THEY HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT BAMBOOZLEING

YOU!!!! BE CAREFULL (sic) !! BRING SANITIZER!!

Coral Springs Public Information Officer Sergeant Joe McHugh confirmed that the department had received a complaint approximately "a month, a month-and-a-half ago" of gunshots fired outside the establishment. When police arrived, however, there were no witnesses at the scene and those still at the bar denied seeing or hearing anything. No charges were filed.

Moral: sometimes it pays to listen to user comments. I, for example, will be avoiding those bathrooms from now on. Oh, and staying the hell away. That too.